Auditory cortex asymmetry in normals and schizophrenics

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The human cerebral cortex has a pronounced hemispheric asymmetry for language function. The superior temporal plane has anatomical asymmetries that might correlate with language function. However, the detailed cytoarchitectonic features of the anatomical asymmetry are poorly understood, We propose to take advantage of recently developed immunocytochemical tools to identify auditory regions of the superior temporal plane, and to determine if they have reliable cytoarchitectonic asymmetries. Altered asymmetry of the superior temporal plane is a feature of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Schizophrenic brains are characterized by alterations in hemispheric asymmetry that are especially pronounced in the superior temporal plane. Additionally, there is evidence for altered neuron density and neuron migration in the schizophrenic brain, but it is unknown if these changes correlate with the altered hemispheric asymmetry. We propose to measure the volume of identified areas, and the neuron densities in the gray matter and white matter in those areas, to determine if these features are asymmetrically distributed in normal brains, and if they are changed in the schizophrenic brains.